Soon-Mi Yoo's Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) online with Pitt's Asian Studies Center, July 22.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center will present the 2014 Soon-Mi Yoo documentary Songs from the North (북녘에서 온 노래) on July 22, as the second installment of its online Summer Screenshots: Hot Nights And Cold War series. (Please note the date change from the original announcement.) From a New York Times review:

More art-video installation than typical documentary, “Songs From the North” is mostly nonnarrative, drawing on North Korean film and TV clips to sketch a sensibility that — however stoked by propaganda — prizes family above all and melds that with a zealous commitment to the fatherland. Song and music invoke shared ideals of sacrifice, honor and patriotism; one televised event that features a young boy crying as he sings of his love of country — as an audience of dignitaries also sobs — is moving and disturbing.

. . .

Scattering history lessons and ambiguous imagery amid Ms. Yoo’s engagement with North Koreans, her film implicitly asks: What must they think of us?

The presentation runs from 4:00 to 7:00 pm and registration is required.

Squirrel Hill's Ka Mei to close; last day August 2.

Ka Mei, a Cantonese restaurant in Squirrel Hill since 2006, announced today it will close on August 2.



It is located at 2209 Murray Ave (map) and was routinely named one of the best, and most unique, Chinese restaurants in the area.

Just Order Enterprises Corp. (饭团) hiring Mandarin-speaking Marketing Developer.

Just Order Enterprises Corp. (饭团), known in Canada as Fantuan, is hiring a bilingual Chinese-English Marketing Developer for the Pittsburgh area. As I wrote on July 3, recent job postings by Just Order and Chowbus indicate that more delivery options for Asian restaurants and groceries may be on the way.

Fantuan was founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2014. With a mission of “life made easier,” the company is a one-stop platform providing food delivery (Fantuan Delivery), reviews (Fantuan Reviews), an errand service (Fantuan Rush), e-commerce and marketing services. Fantuan is one of the top Asian life-services platforms in North America, currently operating across Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Montreal, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and other metropolitan areas in Canada and the US.

Jeopardy about Chinese culture/China with Pitt's Chinese Program, July 17.

Chinese Dim Sum, by Lezlie (Creative Commons)

The University of Pittsburgh's Chinese Program will host an online "Jeopardy about Chinese culture/China" on July 17.

Hosted by Pitt Chinese Program & Chinese Language and Culture Club. You will get to learn some interesting facts about China/Chinese. Come and play with us!

The Zoom session runs from 2:00 to 3:00 pm.

Denise Ho: Becoming the Song online via The Tull Family Theater, from July 17.

Sewickley's Tull Family Theater will present Denise Ho: Becoming the Song online from July 17. A Hollywood Reporter review provides an overview:

Denise Ho — Becoming the Song presents a thoughtful, if surprisingly reserved portrait, of Hong Kong-born, Montreal-reared singer Denise Ho, the first Cantopop superstar to come out publicly as gay. Not long after weathering the storm that followed, Ho also became a political activist, marching alongside pro-democracy protesters in the 2014 Umbrella movement and supporting protests against China’s new extradition laws for Hong Kong residents, which stirred up violent confrontations in the streets recently.

Ticket information is coming soon.

Brew & View: We Are Little Zombies (ウィーアーリトルゾンビーズ) with Row House Cinema, July 31 - August 2.

The Row House Cinema will present an online "Brew & View" with the 2019 Japanese film We Are Little Zombies (ウィーアーリトルゾンビーズ) from July 31 through August 2.

We're rethinking our signature beer and movie events so that you can pair great beer with an amazing film safely at home while Row House Cinema is closed.

Here's how it works:
1.) Pre-order your beer through Eventbrite ($20)
Tickets: https://bit.ly/38PnD7k

2.) Pick up a special 4 pack at Bierport July 31-Aug 2.
(Pssst. You can call ahead to add popcorn to your pickup!)

3.) Rent “We Are Little Zombies” from Row House Online ($12)
(Available 7-31 to 8-13 at rowhousecinema.com)

4.) Crack open a cold one and follow our handy guide for drinking themed beers that pair with key scenes in the movie!

Cool curiosities at Wilkinsburg's Asian Merchandise.

A Sampo Tri-screen Color TV, released circa 1981-2.

One of the larger Asian groceries in the area is probably its least heralded, at least this century: Asian Merchandise Inc in Wilkinsburg, a multi-floor establishment on Penn Ave. (map) that's gone by Pittsburgh Asian Center, Pittsburgh Asian Market, Asian World, and Ou's International. It's also one of the oldest, moving to its present location in 1981 after operating at 757 Penn Ave. from 1978 to 1981. The owner, Chen-Tu Ou, came to Pittsburgh via Taiwan in 1975.

Tickets now available for 2019 documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly (online) at Row House Cinema, from July 10.

The 2019 documentary Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly will play online via Row House Online from July 10. A synopsis from the official site:

Following Ai Weiwei’s detention at the hands of the Chinese authorities, the outspoken artist and activist transformed the former island penitentiary of Alcatraz into an artistic platform. The resulting exhibition engaged nearly 900,000 visitors in a conversation about the plight of prisoners of conscience around the world..

Tickets are now available online. The single-screen Row House Cinema is located at 4115 Butler Street in Lawrenceville (map), though it has been screening movies exclusively online during the pandemic.

Chinese Film Fest (Mini Virtual Film Festival) at Row House Cinema, online from July 17 through 30.

The Row House Cinema will present a Chinese Film Fest (Mini Virtual Film Festival) online from July 17 through 30, featuring the films Lucky Grandma (幸運的奶奶), Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly, and Shanghai Triad (搖啊搖，搖到外婆橋). Tickets will be coming soon.

Bong Joon-ho film Okja watch party with Pitt's Asian Studies Center and OIS, July 15.

The University of Pittsburgh's Asian Studies Center and Office of International Services will host a Netflix watch party of the 2017 Bong Joon-ho film Okja on July 15. A June 2017 Atlantic review introduces the film:

Okja begins with a splendiferous introduction to its title character. Who is Okja? The ecstatic businesswoman Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) is thrilled to tell us, via multimedia presentation, by revealing to the press and her investors a new kind of “super-pig” her global corporation has discovered. A giant, lumbering beast resembling a hippo (though with a more baleful face), this creature is the future of cuisine, Lucy explains, and Okja is a prized calf sent to a farm in South Korea as part of a worldwide competition to find the best environment for her species. There she’ll roam around the mountains for 10 years, munch on the grass, and becoming a loving companion to young Mija (Ahn Seo-hyun), the farmer’s granddaughter.

The movie starts at 7:00 pm and registration is required.